Skills Unlimited, Inc.
For Persons With Disabilities
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News & Events
Art Therapy at SUCCESS
OAKDALE, NY - July 25, 2006 - The SUCCESS Day Program offers socialization, recreation, and educational services to people recovering from severe mental illness. Since different people need different kinds of services during their journey to recovery, we try to vary the activities and services we offer in order to make the program enjoyable to the widest number of people. Our activity schedule is changed every three months, mostly to keep the program “fresh” and to allow our members to try something new if they wish.
One activity that we always offer, however, is art. SUCCESS is one of only a few day programs on Long Island that has a full time art therapist on staff and a creative arts room that is well stocked with supplies and materials. Members of the program can get specific instruction and therapy in one of the structured act activities, or they may choose to work on independent art projects when no scheduled classes are in session.
Arts and crafts have long been a part of the healing process, well before there was even a concept of psychiatric “recovery.” There is something that is at once calming and stimulating in creating an aesthetically pleasing work that has personal meaning. For this reason, we have a substantial number of clients who spend hours at a time painting and creating in the art area at SUCCESS.
The emphasis has always been on the process of creating, but an unanticipated benefit has been that a good number of quality art pieces have come out of it. Last year we participated in five art shows where our works were displayed and sold, and this year we already have two scheduled, including the Long Island Fair and Walk for Mental Health in May. The feedback we got from the public about the quality of our work was quite positive. One patron even wrote a letter to a SUCCESS artist:
Dear Sir,
I just wanted to write you a little note to thank you for allowing me to purchase your beautiful artwork. This picture caught my eye immediately and I had to buy it. The vibrant colors and its sense of life and growth truly struck me. Thank you for allowing me to share your vision and bringing this beauty into my life.Sincerely,
Fran Mellow
All of us at SUCCESS, not just this particular artist, were thrilled to see that our efforts are appreciated by the public.
